Fysioterapeuters upplevelser av att utforma och stödja idrottsspecifik rehabilitering efter främre korsbandsrekonstruktion

Background: Team athletes affected of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is treated with an ACL reconstruction with a following rehabilitation. The physiotherapist’s behaviors have a central role to optimize the return to sport. For that it is required competence in creating sport-specific rehabilitation and supporting the athlete biopsychosocial. Aim: To describe physiotherapists’ experiences of creating and supporting sport-specific rehabilitation to optimize the return to sport after an ACL reconstruction for team athletes at competition level. Method: Eight informants were included who had rehabilitated team athletes at competition level after an ACL reconstruction the last two years. The data collection was done by semi-structured interviews and was analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. Result: The informants’ experiences were presented in 6 categories and 18 subcategories. The categories were; The training plan is based on rehabilitation phases but needs to be adapted, the physioterapist’s competence is important, the training environment is an important prerequisite, the assessment for return to sport needs to be based on the individual, the athlete needs to get motivated, respond and guide the athlete is important. Conclusion: The result of the study strengthens earlier research about potential development of the return phase and the criteria for assessing return to sport. In addition, experiences of deficient sports knowledge and not being able to participate on the field emerge which affects the physiotherapist’s behaviors to create and support sport-specific rehabilitation. This also affects the athlete’s training behavior and return to sports. Keywords: Behavioral medicine, Biopsychosocial model, anterior cruciate ligament injuries, physical therapy, sports medicine.